In order to understand the decision to pursue these vastly different properties, it's critical to know about Nordic Games Publishing's history. "I've been in the industry for 20 years. I've been doing everything from mail order to retail and trading with a lot of THQ products over the years," Wingefors told us.

"I know from the commercial viewpoint, I know these products very well, all those IPs. We have another business called Game Outlet Europe where we have made a lot of money, but it has been declining. What we have done is taken the profit from that business and invested it into this new business."

THQ's bankruptcy wasn't the first from which parent company Nordic Games Holding benefited. The company acquired JoWood, publisher of the Painkiller series, Torchlight, and The Book of Unwritten Tales, in November 2011. By extension, this gave Nordic ownership of Canadian publisher Dreamcatcher. With those acquisitions, Nordic Games Publishing was founded.

Wingefors and his team have been in contact with THQ since shortly after bankruptcy was declared in December 2012. To the public, Nordic Games seemed to have come on the scene quickly, but as Wingefors explained, "We've been in conversation with THQ since January. We signed all the NDAs in January."

"We were part of the auction in February, but decided not to take part because it was too much cash. Saints Row went for $22 million and Koch bought that development studio with that burn rate on a daily basis. Even though I do have financial resources, I don't have those kind of resources."

Nordic Games Publishing was interested in Darksiders and Red Faction from the start, but was not interested in bringing on a development studio.

"We have to be very honest. I am a business man within the games industry. We are not the creative, talented developer that brings out new versions in house," Wingefors stated. "I understand the potential of the IPs. I respect the original creators and the creative people who are able to create sequels. In the past 24 hours, we have been contacted and there have been a few discussions (but I can't confirm names)."

"I'm impressed with the love and interest that those IPs, especially Darksiders, are bringing it. You can see Nordic Game as a middle man in order to create great new sequels. If we can find the right team with the right terms, I'm sure we can find the right financial solution to make it happen."

When asked whether conversations had taken place with Crytek USA (made up, in part, of former Vigil Games employees), Wingefors told us, "Officially, we haven't talked to any partners. My colleagues in Austria are handling the business development and are handling all those contacts. We'll be sitting down, I think, in the next week to discuss all those options. It takes a very long time to make games. You won't see a new Darksiders this year. I don't believe in bringing out a s***** sequel."

Certain franchises included in this second auction drew a great deal of attention, and Nordic Games' approach to purchasing most of the offerings raised eyebrows. We asked Wingefors if there was any competition they faced in bringing home more than 50 of THQ's titles.

"We had competition on most of the individual IPs, and I think they were various development studios," he told us. "I know there were other bids on Red Faction and Titan Quest and Darksiders. We had to pay a high premium to get everything, because THQ put a lot of value into them. We paid a fair price.

"We had to bid on each lot, but we told them that we would pay a premium for the whole thing. All things were possible. I decided to go for everything, but they gave me other options. We get the economies of scale and there are a lot of legal costs involved. For just the one game, it would have been harder to make possible."

Given the depth of properties slated for acquisition pending court approval, it's natural to wonder where Nordic Games Publishing will start. "It's hard to say. Each IP has its own merits. I do have a deep love for MX vs ATV," Wingefors admitted. "I have sold loads through the years, and I know it is a big community. I think that will be less tricky to make a good game with."

He also mentioned a much-adored action-RPG as having attracted a lot of interest. "Titan Quest drew a lot of attention in the past 24 hours. There is great love for Titan Quest. I am sure you will see a sequel in the future, but I don't know when."

Nordic's expenditure of $4.9 million is a lot to monetize, and Wingefors and his team have started planning on how to make use of their auction winnings. "I'm sure we can find a solution for at least one of the IPs, or a few of the IPs, this year. Potentially this summer. There will be a lot of discussions at E3, but it's hard to say. I'm very open minded and flexible. I trust a handshake. I just need to find the right people."

Let the first comment here be full of wisdom.Let it be full of power,let it be full off life.May the mere mortals who look upon it shiver in fear,may the wise men of the Himaylays loom upon it with envey,and may the black present of the conetinet know as Northern America shiver in fear.
May the comment.....be THIS

It's still a shame what happened to THQ, but at least some good has been salvaged from this whole ordeal. Their IPs are going to be handled by companies that have some genuine respect for them, and I don't think I could have hoped for more than that.

I dont like how this sounds "We have to be very honest. I am a business man within the games industry. We are not the creative, talented developer that brings out new versions in house," but maybe i'm misinterpreting what he is saying. I don't think you should be a "business man" in the gaming industry. To me that sounds like you are just in it for the money,I think someone in the gaming industry should actually care about what they do and actually enjoy playing video games. I understand that it is a job and you should care about the money, but I just dont like how that sounds.

Well I'm sure it will be quite a while before we hear anything substantial but I am interested to see who they get to work on the big franchises they picked up. He seems to want to focus on quality over pushing out quick sequels, lets hope that remains the goal. Licensed cash grabs never work out well and it seems he understands that.

It might be for the best that most of these franchises end up stable under one publisher while being developed by various studios. Hopefully as many of these games as possible continue, and personally I hope Nordic finds someone to revive Destroy All Humans.

I actually thought that red faction had been acquicistioned with Voilition ( and their more successful IP saints row ) I am kinda glad to see someone pick it up and express interest in the series. I loved red faction guerrilla and recently purchased the disappointing sequel that was Armageddon , whose story mode was actually painful for me. However I really enjoyed the multiplayer albeit being shortlived. I am sort of sad to see that vigil games won't be making darksiders anymore.

In red faction armageddon's case syfy games had a big role in it, just watch the credits, so in a way the torch had sorta already been passed on. But Darksiders seems sad losing its creator . I just don't see the next darksiders going anywhere good , but we will see.

Their catalog doesn't inspire a ton of confidence, but there is potential here. I can see them going to developers like Ninja Theory, Crytek or Platinum and saying, "Can you make us Darksiders 3"? Which would be awesome. They seem to be focusing on THQ's "heavy hitters" - IP like Darksiders, Red Faction, Titan Quest and MX. Here's hoping they find good partners for each. It could still be very exciting; good developers could end up with each one, y'know? I'd like to see Bugbear (FlatOut, Ridge Racer Driftopia) make an MX vs. ATV game, yeah? There are a couple of studios who could do cool things with Red Faction, especially if they return to it's FPS routes. Maybe attempt an open-world FPS; sort of marry Red Faction with Guerilla? And throw it at a studio like... Human Head (Prey 2)? Could be interesting.

This is just a big question mark now. But hopefully we'll see some awesome stuff come of it in 2015 or something...